Nike Box MSK – new sport and cultural center designed by KOSMOS Architects and Strelka KB – is built to enhance sport infrastructure of the park and help promote sport and active lifestyle in Moscow.
4700 -square-meter site will be open all year around and provide free access to sport facilities and coaching. Box MSK includes outdoor football and streetball courts, indoor and outdoor spaces for training and yoga, it will also serve as a the base for Moscow’s Nike Running Club.
The image of Box Msk embraces several various themes and inspirations. The overall image of the building refers to anonymous, utilitarian and infrastructural architecture; transparency and modularity of the building takes inspiration from membranes and their technologies.
The project is inspired by the local Russian context: rough and brutal districts of panel modernist houses, and the traditional “korobkas”. “Korobka” (Box in Russian) is a courtyard playground, caged by protective fences, is a typical urban detail of any periphery of a Russian city. Introduced in the absence of other urban places to play, “Korobka” symbolizes the minimal infrastructure necessary for sports and the rough, yet romantic, street sport culture.
The appearance of the building is defined by its 5 main design principles: transparency, openness, activation of the whole site, integration in the park, and inspiration for sports.